The present invention relates to a heating system control device and in particular to an electronic control device which is programmable by the user.
While heating system control devices are known in the art, such conventional devices have very little flexibility and thus offer little adjustment of the control of a heating system. The ability to adjust various parameters in the heating system has taken on new importance with the considerable increase in heating fuel costs.
In conventional control devices, the heating cycle time was controlled by a heating cycle motor and a change in the heating cycle necessitated a change in the motor itself. Moreover, conventional devices had difficulty in accommodating the 24 hour clock thereof to a seven day clock without substantial changes in circuitry.
Further, standard off-the-shelf systems were not adaptable to different buildings and thus each device would have to be fitted with customized parts such as motors for particular applications.
Other disadvantages of the conventional systems were that they could not reduce the duty cycle of the heating cycle below certain mechanical limits defined by the elements used therein and thus the systems would generate too much heat in the spring and in the fall.
Furthermore, with the desire to save as much money as possible with heating and thus keeping buildings cold at night, conventional systems had difficulty in adapting to the initial warm-up period in the morning and thus buildings remain cold even during the early morning working hours.